well the galaxy s4 is gonna be announced today at 11pm GMT who is looking up to it i sure am cant wait to get my hands on it rumor has it that it will feature a hexa core cpu with 4 core for low power and 4 for high performance..

Mostly, I'm curious what this is supposed to do that a Nexus4 or SIII can't already do. AFAIK there's no killer app for using that much CPU power in a phone form-factor. Maybe if they announce a desktop docking option...

New high-end cell phone launches are getting to be pretty *meh*, largely for the reason ludi gave. 5 years into the consumer smartphone explosion and the high-end has become pretty much more of the same without huge generational leaps in real-world terms any more. The growth is now in lower-end phones for developing markets as they get trickle down tech from high-end phones. What I'd like to see is things that aren't sexy specs but would make phones (and tablets) better in real day-to-day use. For example, better WiFi speed than single stream, better battery life although I know that's just a matter of time and depends a lot on the screen, a genuine focus on audio quality both for headphone and built-in speakers, excellent camera optics although that's a hard one due to basic physical constraints. Otherwise at this point it's more about software than hardware.

Last edited by MadManOriginal on Thu Mar 14, 2013 11:51 am, edited 1 time in total.

I would only get excited if the batter life for these dang phones would be a tad more than 10 hours, which for my S2, would be a miracle. Oh, and stop locking up, actually let me answer the phone upon a swipe, not turn on the display to let me know the battery is low, etc.

Sure, the hardware underneath is great, but the overall SYSTEM still sucks. Usability suffers when battery life is abysmal and you need specialized apps just to try to extend it. Constantly fighting my phone to keep it running all day.

ChronoReverse wrote:Well, if you had the Razr HD, Razr Maxx or Note 2 then you'd have 2 day batteries even if you tried to wreck the battery life.

My next phone will be judged by that criteria. Most of the other things have plateaued out.

As someone who recently owned a Note 2, battery life was no better than my Galaxy S2, on both devices a full day was achievable, but not much more.

I can't speak to the Razr HD/Razr Maxx, but we had a consultant here in the office that got the 1080p screen Razr, he left home at 100% battery and was looking for an AC adapter before he left for home. If he didn't recharge here, his phone was forced off before he got home about 50% of the time.

Your use case must be unusual then. The Note 2 was notable (pun unintended) for having really strong battery life in every area, getting over 8 hours whether you're web browsing, watching videos or talking on the phone.

Perhaps you're in a low signal area? That kind of thing tends to kill batteries.

liquidsquid wrote:I would only get excited if the batter life for these dang phones would be a tad more than 10 hours, which for my S2, would be a miracle.

Battery life is one reason why I've stuck with my N8 for so long. Battery monitor stats tell me I've used 105% battery for this week, which translates to about 6.6 days on a charge (the week before that, I used only 92% for the week).

Granted, I don't use my phone much, but I do use it for weather, email and I stream music via bluetooth every day while driving to and from work.

MadManOriginal wrote:What I'd like to see is things that aren't sexy specs but would make phones (and tablets) better in real day-to-day use. For example, better WiFi speed than single stream, better battery life although I know that's just a matter of time and depends a lot on the screen, a genuine focus on audio quality both for headphone and built-in speakers, excellent camera optics although that's a hard one due to basic physical constraints. Otherwise at this point it's more about software than hardware.

liquidsquid wrote:I would only get excited if the batter life for these dang phones would be a tad more than 10 hours, which for my S2, would be a miracle. Oh, and stop locking up, actually let me answer the phone upon a swipe, not turn on the display to let me know the battery is low, etc.

I'm going to second all of these, although I don't really care about the camera. Battery life and OS are my top two priorities. Bad battery life is a given, so I'm not going to pay for bad software too.

The software is easy to fix, just don't buy an Android device from anyone but Google.

Energy density in batteries is much tougher. I'm still waiting for some new break through technology that lets me have me cake and eat it too.

I dunno. Galaxy S IV looks kinda like more of the same. I'm curious to see the performance -- and performance/watt -- of Exynos Octa. The move to PowerVR graphics is surprising. Still not enough RAM. (●__●)

edit: quote and long fantasy device rant moved to a new thread

Last edited by auxy on Thu Mar 14, 2013 6:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I thought the SGS3 was big enough a phone as it is...the SGS4 is worse. Seriously, I have friends who complain that using their SGS3s to answer calls is like putting an clothes iron next to their faces - hence their preference for Bluetooth headsets.

Maybe I'm a relative dinosaur in believing that phone screens have gotten too big; then again I use a Sony Ericsson Xperia mini pro which prides itself on its smallness.

Truth be told, I'm a little more interested about the Galaxy Note 3 as the SGS4 seems like more of the same. Yeah some of the new stuff is great (I think I'd get a lot of mileage out of S Health as a runner) but Samsung hasn't quite shaken off its longtime penchant for providing software solutions to questions that no one has really asked.

MadManOriginal wrote:New high-end cell phone launches are getting to be pretty *meh*, largely for the reason ludi gave. 5 years into the consumer smartphone explosion and the high-end has become pretty much more of the same without huge generational leaps in real-world terms any more. The growth is now in lower-end phones for developing markets as they get trickle down tech from high-end phones. What I'd like to see is things that aren't sexy specs but would make phones (and tablets) better in real day-to-day use. For example, better WiFi speed than single stream, better battery life although I know that's just a matter of time and depends a lot on the screen, a genuine focus on audio quality both for headphone and built-in speakers, excellent camera optics although that's a hard one due to basic physical constraints. Otherwise at this point it's more about software than hardware.

QFT. If there's one thing Apple got right, it's that the specs don't matter all that much - it's what you're able to do with the thing that counts.

I'm also rather disappointed that form factors for smartphones have gotten so homogenized over the years. Sony's current lineup is a reflection of this. Where their 2011 lineup was more varied and more experimental (Xperia play, Xperia mini/mini pro, Xperia pro were all either small or had slider components), their phones from 2012 and beyond have been nothing more than different flavors of the same touchscreen candybar. Whether or not such homogeneity in smartphone design is a function of Apple/Samsung/HTC's popularity I'm not 100% sure.

bluepiranha wrote:I'm also rather disappointed that form factors for smartphones have gotten so homogenized over the years. Sony's current lineup is a reflection of this. Where their 2011 lineup was more varied and more experimental (Xperia play, Xperia mini/mini pro, Xperia pro were all either small or had slider components), their phones from 2012 and beyond have been nothing more than different flavors of the same touchscreen candybar. Whether or not such homogeneity in smartphone design is a function of Apple/Samsung/HTC's popularity I'm not 100% sure.

Sony's lineup became homogenized because all those "weird" phones didn't sell worth a crap.

Of course, that's mostly because they were crap. I had an Xperia Play and I took it back; it was awful. Still, money is the bottom line, after all, and when things don't sell, companies panic and stick to proven formulas.

bluepiranha wrote:I'm also rather disappointed that form factors for smartphones have gotten so homogenized over the years. Sony's current lineup is a reflection of this. Where their 2011 lineup was more varied and more experimental (Xperia play, Xperia mini/mini pro, Xperia pro were all either small or had slider components), their phones from 2012 and beyond have been nothing more than different flavors of the same touchscreen candybar. Whether or not such homogeneity in smartphone design is a function of Apple/Samsung/HTC's popularity I'm not 100% sure.

Sony's lineup became homogenized because all those "weird" phones didn't sell worth a crap.

Of course, that's mostly because they were crap. I had an Xperia Play and I took it back; it was awful. Still, money is the bottom line, after all, and when things don't sell, companies panic and stick to proven formulas.

Except that they did sell. Only the Xperia Play was released in the US out of the phones I mentioned, and yes it was a dud compared to the expectations put on it, but the Mini and Mini Pro actually did pretty well in Europe as successors of the X10 Mini.

bluepiranha wrote:Except that they did sell. Only the Xperia Play was released in the US out of the phones I mentioned, and yes it was a dud compared to the expectations put on it, but the Mini and Mini Pro actually did pretty well in Europe as successors of the X10 Mini.

Well, pardon my Americentrism, but I'd say that within this region, if the only released device did poorly...

How well did the Mini phones do compared to the rest of Sony's lineup?

bluepiranha wrote:QFT. If there's one thing Apple got right, it's that the specs don't matter all that much - it's what you're able to do with the thing that counts.

I'm also rather disappointed that form factors for smartphones have gotten so homogenized over the years. Sony's current lineup is a reflection of this. Where their 2011 lineup was more varied and more experimental (Xperia play, Xperia mini/mini pro, Xperia pro were all either small or had slider components), their phones from 2012 and beyond have been nothing more than different flavors of the same touchscreen candybar. Whether or not such homogeneity in smartphone design is a function of Apple/Samsung/HTC's popularity I'm not 100% sure.

Well not quite...to Apple, specs don't matter, unless Apple has an advantage then they do. That's what marketing is all about and Apple was genius at downplaying their clear shortcomings while hyping their advantages.

Another reason for the homogeneity of smartphone design is that sometimes form follows function. Just like any other physical design there is usually some optimum solution so overall, designs will merge toward something resembling that general optimum form with some variation for different sizes, use purposes, or minor features.

Samsung? Latest hardware with the latest gimmickry and last-century power profile.

Try the Lenovo P770 (3500 mAh battery, 30% more than Galaxy S4), or look at Motorola's RAZR. I just put a P770 (Jelly Bean 4.1.1) through six hours of non-media use with WLAN off but with constant dual-radio (dual-SIM), bluetooth, A-GPS, and 3G 1mbps data connections and screen at 100% (sleep 1min) and was left with 75% battery remaining. Made no more than a dozen calls and browsed for at most an hour, drove for about an hour with navigation and driving aids. It should deliver at least 8 hours of full-on usage.

Samsung? Latest hardware with the latest gimmickry and last-century power profile.

Try the Lenovo P770 (3500 mAh battery, 30% more than Galaxy S4), or look at Motorola's RAZR. I just put a P770 (Jelly Bean 4.1.1) through six hours of non-media use with WLAN off but with constant dual-radio (dual-SIM), bluetooth, A-GPS, and 3G 1mbps data connections and screen at 100% (sleep 1min) and was left with 75% battery remaining. Made no more than a dozen calls and browsed for at most an hour, drove for about an hour with navigation and driving aids. It should deliver at least 8 hours of full-on usage.

NOW THAT LOOKS VERY IMPRESSIVE i have also been looking at the HTC ONE which in my opinion is the best phone out there sure the sgs4 leads in software and hardware but this thing is just very well made i meal the aluminium case the stereo speakers are all good

bluepiranha wrote:QFT. If there's one thing Apple got right, it's that the specs don't matter all that much - it's what you're able to do with the thing that counts.

Which is why I'm looking at a Nexus 4 right now.. I have CM 10.1 on my current smartphone, and as an experimental build it's just about stable enough to want the real thing, badly! Having a Nexus 7 in the household with basically the same OS but rock stable and a very smooth experience is another factor. That, and I was at a couch-party yesterday where the people with Galaxy S3's were constantly bitching about them. I'd love a Galaxy S3 with 100% stable and updated stock Android OS, but if I have to 'settle' for 'just' a Nexus 4 then that what I'll do. I think.

Firestarter wrote:I have CM 10.1 on my current smartphone, and as an experimental build it's just about stable enough to want the real thing, badly!

This is me! I have CM 10.1 on my phone -- totally unsupported -- and while it's kinda glitchy due to both the crappy, nonstandard nature of Tegra2 (lacks NEON) and also from running on top of 2.3 kernel (no bootloader hack), it's still totally awesome compared to 2.3.

Firestarter wrote:That, and I was at a couch-party yesterday where the people with Galaxy S3's were constantly bitching about them.

What's a couch party? (；￣Д￣）:lol: :nolife:

I hear this too; my best friend has a GSIII and she complains about it constantly! She keeps saying she wishes she had her iPhone, but when the iPhone5 came out she was like "eh..." (」ﾟヘﾟ)」

well I was about to say 'party' or 'just hung out with a few friends' but my ass was firmly planted on a couch for the night and I was fed cocktails and other deliciousnesses by the host and his friends and the mood was festive, so I got a bit creative with the nomenclature

Just returned my S2 to stock after running CyanogenMod for a year and change. I installed the proper, Bell in my case, ICS build they have released for it. I can now trade it in. Can't say I love the stock setup but it's not bad enough stop me from using it for a month.

I don't have a problem with what it's made of. They are all far too flimsy, all mine go in an Otterbox case. I toss it to my granddaughter, she does not always catch it.

Just to let people know you can put it back like it was even after completely removing the stock OS. Oh yeah, do a full wipe first.

I was looking at the RAZR MAXX when I picked up my Note- it's that old. I didn't want to pay for the Verizon service and I'm still on AT&T unlimited; granted I'm still waiting for the Jelly Bean update.

If they update the Nexus by the time I get around to upgrading, it'll be that or an iPhone. No more half-assed crap .